ACC commissioner John Swofford engineered the league's growth to include Notre Dame

Sara D. Davis, Daily Press

The Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford addresses the media during a press conference at the Blue Zone in Kenan Stadium, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2012, Chapel Hill, NC. The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Notre Dame as...

The Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford addresses the media during a press conference at the Blue Zone in Kenan Stadium, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2012, Chapel Hill, NC. The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Notre Dame as... (Sara D. Davis, Daily Press)

Monday, the presidents of the ACC’s 15 current and future members announced they have signed such a document, assuring the conference stability through at least 2027, affirming Swofford’s stealth leadership and bringing some sanity to the national realignment craze.

“It is one of the great days in the history of our conference as it shows the highest level of commitment — not by words, but by actions,” Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement.

A grant of rights binds each school’s share of conference media revenue to the league for the term of the agreement. Moreover, a departing school brings no media value to its new conference home.

For example, the ACC deal is effective immediately and runs through the 2026-27 academic year. Multiply those 14 years times the $20 million-plus each school will receive annually from the conference’s partnership with ESPN, and you get almost $300 million that an institution would forfeit by departing.

The ACC’s $20 million-plus per-school projection is about $3 million more than the contract the league and ESPN brokered a year ago. This reflects the conference’s addition of Notre Dame for sports other than football, and the Fighting Irish’s agreement to play five football games annually against ACC opponents.

And more money likely is in the pipeline as the conference and ESPN continue exploring the creation of an ACC cable channel similar to the Big Ten Network.

“I think this is a signal that there’s an opportunity,” Littlepage said, “and there’s probably increasing interest on the part of our TV partners to see what the possibilities are. They can look at the next (14) years and know with certainty who is in the ACC.”

Uncertainty began nearly a year ago when the chairman of Florida State’s Board of Trustees blistered the ACC’s new ESPN contract as inadequate. Although his points of contention were largely inaccurate, media pronounced the Seminoles as good as gone.

In November, Maryland blindsided the conference by bolting for the Big Ten. Yet even as the ACC replaced the Terps with powerful Louisville, and even as the conference’s presidents issued a statement of solidarity, ACC-bashing remained en vogue.

Littlepage dealt with the fallout frequently as media continued to report that Virginia was pondering a move to for the Big Ten.

“My answer was always the same: ‘There’s no merit,’” Littlepage said, “and it was almost a feeling of nobody believes (me). Once credibility was being questioned … it was difficult and it was frustrating. …

“I’ve never wavered in the belief that the Atlantic Coast Conference was the best place for the University of Virginia, and I know there were a lot of other ADs that felt the same thing.”

But conference affiliation decisions rest with presidents, and the linchpin here was Florida State’s Eric Barron. Indeed, while most (all?) other ACC schools were ready to sign a grant of rights long ago, FSU was not.

Perhaps Barron realized that the Seminoles aren’t as attractive to other conferences as many surmised. Or, perhaps he concluded that the ACC’s partnership with ESPN will generate the money necessary to compete nationally. Maybe both.

“There are three things that FSU is keenly interested in,” Barron told our sister paper the Orlando Sentinel. “One is stability, a second is that we have revenues that are competitive and a third is to have what will be an ACC network that helps further our brand and also adds resources.”

Duke’s White also made clear the direction of the ACC-ESPN collaboration.

“The net result of these negotiations, spearheaded by the determined leadership of Commissioner Swofford, is that the ACC is now in a prime media rights position among its peers and partnered with the preeminent sports broadcasting entity on the planet, ESPN,” he said in a statement. “Historically speaking, this is nothing short of a lasting game-changer for the ACC’s colleges and universities.”

If Swofford, a former North Carolina quarterback and athletic director, ever harbored doubts about the ACC’s future and stability, he never betrayed them publicly. Instead, he quietly led the conference to historic change.

Couple those transactions with Monday’s news and you have an unconditional victory for the ACC.

“This announcement further highlights the continued solidarity and commitment by our member institutions,” Swofford said in a statement. “The Council of Presidents has shown tremendous leadership in insuring the ACC is extremely well positioned with unlimited potential.”

Krzyzewski, the league’s most visible and accomplished figure, was more effusive.

“With all the uncertainty regarding conference affiliations the past several years in college athletics,” he said, “this announcement, coupled with our media rights deal with the world’s best sports broadcasting network, secures the ACC’s future, and thus Duke’s, for years to come.

“As a long-time coach in this league, I understand how terrific the ACC has been. With continued commitment by current members and the addition of several outstanding institutions, the ACC should be in position to reestablish itself as the nation’s top conference in the years to come.”

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP

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